"Imagine a Halloween with no candy. Do you think you would still have fun? Why or why not?"
A Halloween with no candy would be absolutely no fun whatsoever. This is because Halloween has become centered around candy. Trick-or-Treating would be pointless since no one really wants pencils or other random trinkets that people would give out instead. Plus, the whole fun of Halloween is running around neighborhoods with your friends or family collecting candy and then when you get home dumping everything on the floor and seeing what you got. Counting and trading candy on the living room floor, trying to get the best trade for a candy you don't like. Without candy, Halloween would be very different and definatly not as much fun for everyone.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
TU Tuesday
http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Globalization-relatively-kind-to-Capital-Region-2237330.php
fared better under globalization
fared: to turn out; globalization: worldwide integration and development
which they've leveraged to build their technology sector
leveraged: to exert power or force on; sector: a part or subdivision of
upstate metros
metropolitan (metro): of or pertaining to a large city
manufacturing here is largely export-oriented
manufacturing: the making or producing of anything; export: to ship to other countries for sale
focus of several forums
forum: an assembly
This article, Globalization relatively kind to Capital Region, was about how globalization in New York has affected the cities upstate. The words were chosen to give a 'strictly business' feel. You can kind of get this feeling from the lines "which they've leveraged to build their technology sector" and "manufacturing here is largely export-oriented".
You can also get the feeling that the article was written specifically for people that know about the business world. This is a different feel from most of the articles in the newspaper these days, which are written at level that most people can understand easily. You can see this in the lines "fared better under globalization" and "'...enjoys the stabilizing economic benefits of the state capital workforce.'"
fared better under globalization
fared: to turn out; globalization: worldwide integration and development
which they've leveraged to build their technology sector
leveraged: to exert power or force on; sector: a part or subdivision of
upstate metros
metropolitan (metro): of or pertaining to a large city
manufacturing here is largely export-oriented
manufacturing: the making or producing of anything; export: to ship to other countries for sale
focus of several forums
forum: an assembly
This article, Globalization relatively kind to Capital Region, was about how globalization in New York has affected the cities upstate. The words were chosen to give a 'strictly business' feel. You can kind of get this feeling from the lines "which they've leveraged to build their technology sector" and "manufacturing here is largely export-oriented".
You can also get the feeling that the article was written specifically for people that know about the business world. This is a different feel from most of the articles in the newspaper these days, which are written at level that most people can understand easily. You can see this in the lines "fared better under globalization" and "'...enjoys the stabilizing economic benefits of the state capital workforce.'"
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Where The Wild Things Are
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/Where_The_Wild_Things_Are_(book)_cover.jpg
_cover.jpg){kind=link}
Where The Wild Things Are was one of the books read most often in my house. My parents were the kind of people that read constantly to my sister and I when we were growing up. We always read a book before going to bed when we were little and as we grew up we would read longer books, reading a couple chapters a night. At Lynnwood (and perhaps similar programs at the other elementary schools) there was a program called Lynwood Reads a Thousand Books, where there were 100 bags, each with 10 books in them that you could sign out and take home and when you were done reading them you could bring them back and get a new bag. The books were mostly picture books and we went through the bags really quickly, sometimes being done with the bag in a week. One of my favorite books was one that was in the 1000 and also one that we already owned, Where The Wild Things Are. It was one of the four books we read most often, the others being Goodnight Moon, Love You Forever, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Also, in my kindergarten class we had a mystery reader come in twice a month. The mystery reader was normally a parent that took the day or a half day from work and came in to read a book to our class. Some parents were better at keeping it a secret than other and so sometimes it wasn't really a mystery, but when my dad was the mystery reader he kept it a secret. He read Where The Wild Things Are and while reading he roared like the wild things and scared my class. This book will always be one of my favorite books from my childhood.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
L= Lander University
http://www.lander.edu/en/About-Us/Overview.aspx
I would want to go because...
I would want to go because...
- Class sizes: The student teacher ratio is 17:1 and the average class is 22 students
- Programs: "More that 60 areas of undergraduate study are offered..."
- Athletics: It is a Division II school and has a volleyball team and also offers club and intramural volleyball
- Students: "Enrollment is approximately 3,000 with a student body representing 29 states and 17 foreign countries."
- Location: "Greenwood is located in the Piedmont of western South Carolina, just 2-4 hours from the beautiful South Carolina beaches or the Blue Ridge Mountains."
- Student Body: "...67 percent of the student body is female and 33 percent is male."
- Location: It's in South Carolina, which is at least 14 hours from my house according to mapquest.
- Graduate programs: There's only 2
Monday, October 17, 2011
Vintage Photo
Women Workers
http://old-photos.blogspot.com/search/label/World%20War%20II
This picture, Women Workers, is worth words to me because it really shows how much women were a part of WWII. Also it shows how much the status of women changed from only being though of as housewives and seamstresses to working in factories manufacturing aircraft and other necessities for the war. Women Working is a great represtentation of how WWII actually brought the U.S. together for a common cause (and helped us get out of the Great Depression). Women Workers also shows that women were able to actually use the tools that they were working with, which was a big leap forward from sewing machines and cleaning supplies. I love this picture because it is an action photo, where they're working with metal, which gives a cool effect. Plus their bandanas give them a "Rosie the Riveter" look, which was the common look of the time since women were taking over most of the men's jobs that they were leaving behind because of the war.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"It was inevitable."
The only real responsibility I'd ever had and in not even five minutes I'd messed it up. She was gone. The six-year old girl, Marleigh, that I had been watching was no where to be found. I still don't know why I'd agreed to watch her, cinsidering what I'd heard from other people around town about her. Nevertheless, here I was, searching the entire house (although, compared to the rest of our little town, it was more of a mansion) for her. I checked every room; under beds, behind couches, in closets and any small places I could think of that a six-year old could fit into. I even checked the basement, kinda, but I figured six-year olds are generally afraid of the dark and there weren't any lights that I could see. I'd checked the entire house and there was no sight of her. I went aorund the house a second time, trying to remember which direction she'd taken off into as soon as her dad shut the car door behind him and drove away. It had been an hour and a half when I was working my way through the second floor for the second time, when I came across a door in the back corner of the house, that I didn't remember seeing the first time I was looking for Marleigh. It was opened a crack and I could hear muffled voices coming from inside the room. I approached it coutiously, considering Marleigh and I were supposed to be the only two people in the house. As I got closer to the door, I could hear Marleigh talking, and there were at least four or five other voices that were inside the room with her, all chatting and talking. I could clearly hear at leat two women's voices and porbably two men's voices, and a fifth voice that was had to determin. It sounded younger, like a childs voice.
I fung the door open to see who could possibly have gotten into the house and to the second floor, in the time that I'd been here, without me knowing. But when I opened the door, only Marleigh was the only person in the room. She was sitting at a little table with a group of stuffed animals sitting at the table with her, each one with an empty teacup and a plate in front of them.
"Marleigh," I said, my voice dripping with curiosity, "who were you talking to?"
"My friends," she replied simply, taking a sip of air from her teacup.
"Where did your friends go?" I asked, glancing around the room for an alternate exit, or a hiding place.
"What do you mean?" she asked, innocence spelled clearly across her face. "They're right here." She pointed around the table at the stuffed animals, and then looked back at me. "We were having a teaparty, right Mr. Cuddles?" she asked the stuffed frog sitting to her left. There was also a dog, a bear, a cat, a pony, and an elephant.
"But, I heard voices," I said, still trying to figure out how in the world five people could dissapear from sight in a split second, "there were people talking to you."
"I was talking to my friends."
"I know, but where did the other people talking to you go?"
"Nowhere," she said rolling her eyes, clearly frustrated with me, "they're right here! They stopped talking because they're shy."
"Oh, okay," I said nodding. "Well I'll just leave you guys alone so you can go back to having your tea party," I said, backing out of the room, and closing the door almost all the way and pretended to walk away down the hallway. It didn't take long for the voices to start back up, and I peeked into the room through the crack that I'd left the door open to. I still couldn't see anyone in the room with Marleigh, but the stuffed animals. Marleigh was talking and asking questions and voices were resoponding, but it was hard to tell where the were coming from. I was about to go back into the room, when all of a sudden, the stuffed frog sitting next to Marleigh moved. He picked up his cup of air and took a sip from it. I couldn't believe it. I pinched my self, trying to see if I was asleep, but then the rest of the animals were moving too. Drinking and eating the air that was on the cute little china in front of them. I leaned forward slightly, trying to get a closer look, but the floorboard underneath me creaked, giving me away.
"Looks like we have some company," said the dog, all six of them turing to look at the door.
"Why don't you go to sleep child," the elephant said to me, and that's when everything went black.
The only real responsibility I'd ever had and in not even five minutes I'd messed it up. She was gone. The six-year old girl, Marleigh, that I had been watching was no where to be found. I still don't know why I'd agreed to watch her, cinsidering what I'd heard from other people around town about her. Nevertheless, here I was, searching the entire house (although, compared to the rest of our little town, it was more of a mansion) for her. I checked every room; under beds, behind couches, in closets and any small places I could think of that a six-year old could fit into. I even checked the basement, kinda, but I figured six-year olds are generally afraid of the dark and there weren't any lights that I could see. I'd checked the entire house and there was no sight of her. I went aorund the house a second time, trying to remember which direction she'd taken off into as soon as her dad shut the car door behind him and drove away. It had been an hour and a half when I was working my way through the second floor for the second time, when I came across a door in the back corner of the house, that I didn't remember seeing the first time I was looking for Marleigh. It was opened a crack and I could hear muffled voices coming from inside the room. I approached it coutiously, considering Marleigh and I were supposed to be the only two people in the house. As I got closer to the door, I could hear Marleigh talking, and there were at least four or five other voices that were inside the room with her, all chatting and talking. I could clearly hear at leat two women's voices and porbably two men's voices, and a fifth voice that was had to determin. It sounded younger, like a childs voice.
I fung the door open to see who could possibly have gotten into the house and to the second floor, in the time that I'd been here, without me knowing. But when I opened the door, only Marleigh was the only person in the room. She was sitting at a little table with a group of stuffed animals sitting at the table with her, each one with an empty teacup and a plate in front of them.
"Marleigh," I said, my voice dripping with curiosity, "who were you talking to?"
"My friends," she replied simply, taking a sip of air from her teacup.
"Where did your friends go?" I asked, glancing around the room for an alternate exit, or a hiding place.
"What do you mean?" she asked, innocence spelled clearly across her face. "They're right here." She pointed around the table at the stuffed animals, and then looked back at me. "We were having a teaparty, right Mr. Cuddles?" she asked the stuffed frog sitting to her left. There was also a dog, a bear, a cat, a pony, and an elephant.
"But, I heard voices," I said, still trying to figure out how in the world five people could dissapear from sight in a split second, "there were people talking to you."
"I was talking to my friends."
"I know, but where did the other people talking to you go?"
"Nowhere," she said rolling her eyes, clearly frustrated with me, "they're right here! They stopped talking because they're shy."
"Oh, okay," I said nodding. "Well I'll just leave you guys alone so you can go back to having your tea party," I said, backing out of the room, and closing the door almost all the way and pretended to walk away down the hallway. It didn't take long for the voices to start back up, and I peeked into the room through the crack that I'd left the door open to. I still couldn't see anyone in the room with Marleigh, but the stuffed animals. Marleigh was talking and asking questions and voices were resoponding, but it was hard to tell where the were coming from. I was about to go back into the room, when all of a sudden, the stuffed frog sitting next to Marleigh moved. He picked up his cup of air and took a sip from it. I couldn't believe it. I pinched my self, trying to see if I was asleep, but then the rest of the animals were moving too. Drinking and eating the air that was on the cute little china in front of them. I leaned forward slightly, trying to get a closer look, but the floorboard underneath me creaked, giving me away.
"Looks like we have some company," said the dog, all six of them turing to look at the door.
"Why don't you go to sleep child," the elephant said to me, and that's when everything went black.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
TU Tuesday Blog
http://blog.timesunion.com/aprofessorswife/three-comments-from-the-trash-vault/1794/#more-1794
Stephanie is the author of the Times Union blog, A Proffesor's Wife. Stephanie (none of her posts seem to have her last name anywhere) writes about her daily life. She and her husband have moved from West Virginia then to Ohio and ended up here. On September 21, 2011, her post was "Three comments from the trash vault", where she proceeded to share the three worst comments that she's recieved about her blog posts. For example, one of the comments she got was "Why exactly did the Times Union invite you to blog? Weren't there enough housewives in the Capitol Region that liked to shop already?", which isn't the nicest of comments, especially since reading some of the titiles of her posts, none of them seem to have to do with shopping. However, I don't really think that she needed an entire post, or a post at all, to somewhat insult and make fun of the people that left those comments. She even says, "Oddly enough, I would like to take this time to give the meanies some attention which they so desperately crave." To me, this doesn't seem to be the best way to go about things. Yes, I don't like when people make mean comments, especially if they're wrong -like another one of the comments she recieved- but I aslo don't think that they should be recognized for doing something that most of society -I hope- would frown upon. In addition, giving someone recognition for anything, even if it was intended to make them look poorly to others, tends to make them feel like it's okay to go ahead and do it again, which was clearly not the point she wanted to make.
Stephanie is the author of the Times Union blog, A Proffesor's Wife. Stephanie (none of her posts seem to have her last name anywhere) writes about her daily life. She and her husband have moved from West Virginia then to Ohio and ended up here. On September 21, 2011, her post was "Three comments from the trash vault", where she proceeded to share the three worst comments that she's recieved about her blog posts. For example, one of the comments she got was "Why exactly did the Times Union invite you to blog? Weren't there enough housewives in the Capitol Region that liked to shop already?", which isn't the nicest of comments, especially since reading some of the titiles of her posts, none of them seem to have to do with shopping. However, I don't really think that she needed an entire post, or a post at all, to somewhat insult and make fun of the people that left those comments. She even says, "Oddly enough, I would like to take this time to give the meanies some attention which they so desperately crave." To me, this doesn't seem to be the best way to go about things. Yes, I don't like when people make mean comments, especially if they're wrong -like another one of the comments she recieved- but I aslo don't think that they should be recognized for doing something that most of society -I hope- would frown upon. In addition, giving someone recognition for anything, even if it was intended to make them look poorly to others, tends to make them feel like it's okay to go ahead and do it again, which was clearly not the point she wanted to make.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
TU Tuesday
http://blackboard.neric.org/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_2263_1%26url%3d
This article is about Amanda Knox. Four years ago she was an exchange student in Italy when her British roomate, Meredith Kurcher, was murdured. Knox, her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollectio, and another man were arrested after Kurcher's death. Italian officers accused the three of them for the killing "as part of a bizzare sex-game." Knox was then tried in Italy, arrested, and held in an Italian jail for four years. She and Sollectio were released on October 3 and Knox went back to Seattle, her hometown, since a court of appeals dropped the charge against her. One of the judges on the jury that released Knox, Claudio Pratillo, said that the decision was made based on the evidence in the case, which was not enough to charge Knox with the crime, on the subject he said "'They could be also be responsible, but the proof isn't there.'"
Questions about the truth behind the case come from the way that she acted when she was arrested. Knox originally said that she was in the apartment when Kurcher was murdered and that she even plugged her ears to block out the screams. However, Knox later changed her story to say that she was at Sollecito's apartment. Also, according to reports Knox "turned cartwheels and did splits as she waited for police questioning." These are slightly troubling actions, that would make it reasonable for the Italian government to assume that she was guilty. Knox, however, says that she "'tends to act a little silly' under pressure" and that the story was a fantasy she created because she she was answering questions in Italian, which she wasn't fluent in yet. This confuses me, though, because I don't understand why she couldn't ask for a translator, so that she wouldn't have to make up a fantasy, that in the end only makes her look more guilty.
Although there is much in her actions and words that go against the belief that she is innocent, her family believed her the entire time. According to the article, Knox's family spent a great deal of money trying to help her get free, although it doesn't specify how much it set her family back, it does discuss the fact that she could make a lot of money by telling her story. According to the article, Knox "could get a book deal that easily reaches seven figures" plus movie rights and speaking deals that could make $50,000 each.
I have heard of another case, similar to Knox's where an American man was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in a Latin American country (I can't remember which one). He also was held in jail, even though there was great evidence that he couldn't possibly have killed her. He was held in jail and almost died on malnutrition, while his family was trying to get the government to let him go. This article about knox reminded me of how unfair I thought it was that even though it was evident that there was no way he could have murdered his girlfriend they arrested him anyway. Both stories of young people arrested abroad seem to me to be unfair in the sense that there was no evidence against them, but maybe that's because I'm used to the idea that you aren't supposed to hold people for a charge if you can't prove it with evidence. This article does also leave some questions to be answered, like:
1. If Knox was actually at the apartment when Kurcher was being killed, why didn't she do anything?
2. If there really was no substancial evidence that Knox was there and killed Kurcher, should the Italian government really have them in custody?
3. Did Knox really do cartwheels and splits while waiting to be questioned? and Why?
4. Is it possible that other countries give Americans a hard time about getting out of their jails, even though there is clearly evidence that they didn't do it, simply because they don't like America?
5. Did this experience change Knox's life or out look on life in any way?
This article is about Amanda Knox. Four years ago she was an exchange student in Italy when her British roomate, Meredith Kurcher, was murdured. Knox, her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollectio, and another man were arrested after Kurcher's death. Italian officers accused the three of them for the killing "as part of a bizzare sex-game." Knox was then tried in Italy, arrested, and held in an Italian jail for four years. She and Sollectio were released on October 3 and Knox went back to Seattle, her hometown, since a court of appeals dropped the charge against her. One of the judges on the jury that released Knox, Claudio Pratillo, said that the decision was made based on the evidence in the case, which was not enough to charge Knox with the crime, on the subject he said "'They could be also be responsible, but the proof isn't there.'"
Questions about the truth behind the case come from the way that she acted when she was arrested. Knox originally said that she was in the apartment when Kurcher was murdered and that she even plugged her ears to block out the screams. However, Knox later changed her story to say that she was at Sollecito's apartment. Also, according to reports Knox "turned cartwheels and did splits as she waited for police questioning." These are slightly troubling actions, that would make it reasonable for the Italian government to assume that she was guilty. Knox, however, says that she "'tends to act a little silly' under pressure" and that the story was a fantasy she created because she she was answering questions in Italian, which she wasn't fluent in yet. This confuses me, though, because I don't understand why she couldn't ask for a translator, so that she wouldn't have to make up a fantasy, that in the end only makes her look more guilty.
Although there is much in her actions and words that go against the belief that she is innocent, her family believed her the entire time. According to the article, Knox's family spent a great deal of money trying to help her get free, although it doesn't specify how much it set her family back, it does discuss the fact that she could make a lot of money by telling her story. According to the article, Knox "could get a book deal that easily reaches seven figures" plus movie rights and speaking deals that could make $50,000 each.
I have heard of another case, similar to Knox's where an American man was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in a Latin American country (I can't remember which one). He also was held in jail, even though there was great evidence that he couldn't possibly have killed her. He was held in jail and almost died on malnutrition, while his family was trying to get the government to let him go. This article about knox reminded me of how unfair I thought it was that even though it was evident that there was no way he could have murdered his girlfriend they arrested him anyway. Both stories of young people arrested abroad seem to me to be unfair in the sense that there was no evidence against them, but maybe that's because I'm used to the idea that you aren't supposed to hold people for a charge if you can't prove it with evidence. This article does also leave some questions to be answered, like:
1. If Knox was actually at the apartment when Kurcher was being killed, why didn't she do anything?
2. If there really was no substancial evidence that Knox was there and killed Kurcher, should the Italian government really have them in custody?
3. Did Knox really do cartwheels and splits while waiting to be questioned? and Why?
4. Is it possible that other countries give Americans a hard time about getting out of their jails, even though there is clearly evidence that they didn't do it, simply because they don't like America?
5. Did this experience change Knox's life or out look on life in any way?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Time is Worth Much More Than Money
I agree with this statement because when you think about it money doesn't necessarily buy you happiness, and it also can't buy you more time. Also, time is more important because it's time spent with people that make stronger relationships, not money spent on them. For example children whos parents spend money on them rather than time with them generally have a better ralationship with whoever the parents hire to take care of them and the parents don't really know anything about their kids. In addition to that, parents that spend time with their children reading and playing games and other activities that stimulate learning help the children to know things before they get to school, which also helps them in the long run. Time is also worth more than money, because time can teach you valuable life lessons that can't be bought. For example, time can help you get over the loss of a loved one, while spending money helps nothing at all and can actually cause more problems in the long run.
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